Portugal
The Portuguese have the Power of Navigation. They replace the Greeks. Game info Faction Type: Catholic National Bonuses: *Start with University *Library and University built 50% cheaper *Research speed doubled *Library research 10% cheaper Unique Units: *Caravel 2 => Vitória 3 *Nau 2 => Carrack 3 *Iberian Skirmisher 1 => Jinete 2 => Royal Jinete 3 *Fundeiros 3 *Quadrilheiros 2 Mercenaries: *1 Galloglaich *2 Ronin Kyujitsu *3 Gun Mahout; Yangombi Impi Suggestions and spoilers Gameplay-wise, Portugal is focused on naval forces and medium- to long-term campaigning. While as regards to land units it only has the Fundeiros levy and Quadrilheiros, as well as Iberian skirmishers, Portugal's main advantage is at the sea. It can host four different types of ships in the Imperial Era: the cheaper naus and caravels, and the costlier but more effective carracks and Vitória-class caravels, which outmatch all other brigs and lantern galleys (and their equivalents such as the Ark Royal) in the game. Thus, Portugal excels in game where there is plenty of water and the sole way to invade is by using naval forces to screen your land forces out in the open blue. On land, Portugal has 2 special militia units and a regional unique unit it shares with Andalus and Spain — the jinetes line. Unlike other skirmishers, the jinetes are faster to train, and move faster and have better range than other javelineers, making them powerful enough to even challenge the mounted archer line. Its milita are also the most effective, apart from those fielded by Sicily, Spain and the Muslim factions (excluding Turkey). The Fundeiros levy consists of slinger militia whose rocks can tear apart others in large groups, and the quadrilheiros are also relatively powerful, albeit not against fully upgraded Muslim ghuzat troops. So while Portugal shines at the sea, mustering land forces against the more variegated armies of factions such as England, France or China might be rather difficult. Your task in that case might be to attempt to use your cheaper means of producing knowledge to out-research your opponent, so that you could field better or bigger armies during confrontations. CtW guide Portugal is one of five factions able to create overseas colonies (the others being England, France, Spain and China). While you may find yourself at a disadvantage during the Dark Age, you will have the ability to create colonies at the onset of the Black Plague in the middle of the Castle Age. Colonies are vital to your survival as they grant additional rare resources, and you will also receive 1 army for every 3 colonies you have, graining another one with the next 3 you acquire, allowing for a maximum of two. So your task is to survive the Dark Age. An alliance with either Spain, France or England should be your priority against the Andalusians, as during the Castle Age occupation of Jerusalem by any Christian power, including Russia, will sever your ties with Moorish Andalus. There is little headyway to make in Europe, given the opposition of France and Spain, but to the east and south, there are possibilities. Both the Mediterranean and the Straits of Gibraltar are possible routes for expansion into Africa and eventually towards the Middle East. Faction summary *A faction based on naval units, gunpowder and research. *Oriental Exotics — Portuguese explorers have returned back from England and the far reaches of Asia and Africa, bearing gifts. Of mercenaries, that is. While the selection isn't as huge as that of Burgundy, your mercenaries are of sufficient quality to be used even as flankers and your main line. *Outsmart, Outgun, Outlast — You are better off using gunpowder units as they are relatively cheaper for you. With your universities and scholars creating more knowledge for you, you have an advantage over others when it comes to gunpowder unit production. Enemy has superior numbers? go win the tech race and bring out better units and more resources to best them. Facing Spain's Tercio gunners? just out-produce the blighters. Too many Phologoboles? protect your shores with bombards. *''A cuatro navios'' — Portugal is meant for those players who really love the sea too much to care about land armies. Fortunately for you, your navy does not face any political restrictions, so you can research both penultimate light ships and heavy ships, allowing for a well-balanced fleet capable of smashing any threat into toothpicks. *Last-Ditch Efforts — Militia may not be the best troops available, but when facing either imminent defeat or final victory, every man, woman (and child) armed counts. *''Jinetes'' hijinks — Jinetes are better than other javelin cavalry elsewhere, and are most strong against melee infantry and light cavalry — their range and speed approximate that of a cavalry archer. Use them to mow down the opponenent's light cavalry and infantry, but be wary of gunpowder units, heavy archers, camels and Mongol nomads. Settlements: Lisboa; Porto; Lagos; Sagres; Vilo do Infante; Guimarães; Coimbra; Faro; Oriola; Alcobaça; Leiria; Santarem; Thomar; Castelo Branco; Amadora; Vila Nova de Gaia; Agualva-Cacém; Queluz; Silves; Sintra; Alcacer do Sal; Mertola; Almodovar; Evora; Braga; Lamego; Viseu; Funchal; Setúbal; Aveiro; Rio Tinto; Ponta Delgada · Matosinhos; Beja; Almada; Sacavem; Amora; Leiria; Faro; Évora; Barreiro; Póvoa de Varzim; Ermesinde; Viana do Castelo; Maia; Covilhã; Portimão; Odivelas Leaders: Henry the Navigator, John the Good, Alfonso the African, Alfonso d'Albuquerque, Duarte I, Theresa, Alfonso the Fat History Lusitania and the Late Roman period Despite the long presence of indigenous cultures in Iberia, it was not until after the Second Punic War that Iberia and its people would begin to make their presence felt on a global level. During the war, the Romans ingeniously attacked the Carthaginians in their homeland and in a stunning victory at Zama, forced the Carthaginians to cede all of their colonial possessions, including Iberia, to Rome. The Romans would extend their control over the region beyond the Carthaginian colonies into the rest of the Iberian peninsula over the next two hundred years, finally managing to pacify the Peninsula by 27 BC once and for all. Iberia was subsequently divided into three provinces: Tarraconense and Baetica (present-day Spain) and Lusitania (roughly present-day Portugal). The Romans did not only leave their imprint in the region administratively, but even successfully established their culture over the occupied tribes therein. Every aspect of Iberic culture was effected, if not completely supplanted through the process of Latinisation. The only exception was the Basque, or Vasconians as they were called. All Iberic citizens were granted Roman citizenship, and enjoyed the same rights as those who were natives of Latium. The Iberians would even offer one of their own brethren, a soldier known to us as Trajan, as a Roman Emperor. Trajan would not only became the Emperor of the Roman Empire, but one of its most successful and celebrated rulers. The Visigothic Kingdoms Barbarian incursions became more and more prevailent as Roman authority sputtered out over the course of the Dark Ages, but it was the Visigoths who would eventually take over, forming a warrior elite and overlords ruling the overwhelming majority of the native Hispano-Romans. As Roman influence waned, the Visigoths elected their own king, and established Toledo as capital in 484. Over eighty years later, the Visigoth king Leovigild expelled the imperial civil servants and attempted to unify the Peninsula from the Pyrenees to Gibraltar, which formed natural barriers from which Spain would hold as its borders to this day. Christianity, originally little more than an obscure religious sect during Roman rule, soon became ensconced as the religion of the Visigothic rulers. By the 7th century, however, the Visigothic Kingdom was only nominally united. Their system of elected Kings created rival factions which encouraged foreign intervention by the Greeks, the Franks, and, finally, the Muslims in internal disputes and in royal elections. Under the rule of the Arabs Beginning in 711, Muslim expeditions crossed into Spain, and killed the king of the Visigoths, who until that time had been ruling Iberia since the day they first arrived there. They quickly swept through Spain, aided by the vast Roman road system, and were able to subjugate the Goths easily, due to the political disarray of the nobility. Muslim forces spread throughout the Iberian Peninsula and eventually crossed the Pyrenees into the domain of the Franks (in modern day France), reaching as far as Poitiers by 732. Despite this, there were a number of holdouts in the North that would be able to not only resist the new invaders, but go on create the modern states of Portugal and Spain, but their time would not come well until half a millenium or so later. Nonetheless, these newcomers left lasting influences on Lusitanian culture, transmitted into Spain itself through Arabised Christians who were known as musta'rabeen or, in Spanish, mozarabes (in later years of the Muslim occupation of Spain), the evidence of which can be seen to this day. It is not uncommon to travel throughout Hispanic nations to discover that Arab-style tiling is often used for decoration of houses, or to discover many words in modern-day Spanish and Portuguese which are in fact loanwords from old Arabic. Reconquista and Leonese Rule Once the Umayyad-founded Emirate of Cordoba was extinguished, however, Islamic power in Spain began to wane. As power shifted from one ruling dynasty to another and local Spanish Muslims quarreled with their Berber rivals, the Christians were making headway, taking advantage of the vacuum of power left behind by the Umayyads in Lusitania. By the time of the Almohads, Portugal was effectively lost to the Muslims. Throughout the late 11th century, the mountains south of Leonese Galicia were liberated from Moorish domination, and were christened as the "County of Portugal", subject to the Leonese crown. A French volunteer to the Reconquista, Henry of Burgundy, was married to a young Spanish noblewoman and elected as its count. His son, Alfonso Henriques, would continue the Reconquista in Portugal, and would continue increasing his holdings in Portugal, while a subject of the kingdom of Leon, just as how the descendents of William the Conqueror continued to unify England under their rule while being French vassals. The defeat of his stepfather (who married Alfonso's mother, Theresa, after his father Henry died) in 1128 outside São Mamede, and his driving out a Muslim invasion force at Ourique during the Feast of Saint James in 1139 would help consolidate Alfonso Henrique's rule over the land. Awed by his victories, Muslim adversaries would dub him as Ibn Arrik, or "son of Arrik", and "Ibn Arrik" would soon accept the title of "Prince" or "Infante". The Treaty of Zamora, agreed upon by Lusitanian, Spanish and Papal representatives would mark Portugal's first step toward independence, but it would be 40 years after Ourique, before Alfonso Henriques would be recognised as her monarch, styled Dom Afonso I of Portugal, with Papal approval. The House of Aviz During the rule of the Burgundian dynasts, Portugal saw many changes: a formal alliance with the English; the increase in Portuguese holdings in Iberia; and the Treaty of Alcanizes, in which the Christian rulers of the Iberian peninsula finally recognised the borders of the new kingdom. Yet, there was trouble. In 1383, the Portuguese monarch, Ferdinand, passed away without leaving a suitable heir, and the country tettered on the verge of civil war. Rival nobles vied for power while foreign powers attempted to make their influence felt in the nation, but eventually, a chivalric order, the Order of Aviz, set its Master, João, as king. The Hundred Years' War spilled into Portugal as a Franco-Castillian army was sent to dethrone João, now styled John I, but was defeated near Aljubarrotta by Anglo-Portuguese forces in 1385, cementing further the House of Aviz' hold on the throne and its alliance with England. The new king, soon dubbed "John the Good" or "John the Great", was an unusual man: described as a "powermonger", and yet considered a highly enlightened and charitable personality, João's experience as master of a chivalric order also meant that he was a well-learned and cultured man, and his intellectual tendencies and love of learning would soon rub off him onto his own sons (his successor Duarte was an author in his own right), laying the seeds for the Age of Discovery and the foundation of the Portuguese overseas empire. King João's third son, Infante Henrique, would not ascend the throne, but his patronage of the arts and sciences would allow him to eclipse his elder brother Edward or Duarte I of Aviz: he came to be better known to the English-speaking world as Henry the Navigator. New Nation, New Empire Under House Aviz, the seeds of Portuguese influence were sown throughout the world. Although Portugal would eventually lose military influence to Spain and economic influence first to the Dutch and then the British, its empire was the most long-lived of empires, beginning in the 16th century and ending only at the beginning of the 21st with the handover of Macao to the People's Republic of China. The first phase of Portuguese exploration and colonisation began with the crusades. In an attempt to stamp out Islam in Africa, military expeditions were sent out under various orders to North Africa and beyond, but these soon became expeditions intent on creating wealth via trade or conquest instead. Maderia and the Azores were discovered in time for Duarte's successor, Alfonso V "the African" to inherit them; six decades later, Bartolomeu Dias reached Cabo de boa Esperança (Cape of Good Hope). In the span of almost a century, Portugal had founded colonies around the African coast, granting it access to a steady supply of gold, sugar and slaves through trade. After Africa, Portugal's next project was Asia. For almost the whole length of the Middle Ages, Venice and her Muslim allies had a stranglehold on the spice trade, which allowed for the growth of the Venetian empire and the Golden Age of Islam in both Spain and the Middle East. The Battle of Diu, fought off the Indian coast, smashed Arabo-Venetian control of the spice trade and opened the waters of Southeast Asia to the Portuguese. They soon followed up by sending the sultan of Melaka (now Melaka state in present-day Malaysia) packing in 1511, and eventually reached China by 1513 and made landfall in Japan by 1542. Portuguese activity in Asia also coincided with attempts to colonise present-day Brazil as well. Despite this impressive reach, Portuguese influence was soon to be eclipsed by the Spanish and the Dutch for various reasons. Firstly, Portugal was never a large nation, and despite its impressive reach and trade network, it never could be a key player in European affairs, unlike its big sister Spain. Next, the overarching reach of its empire meant that it was now open to raiding from other European powers. It is not uncommon for attention in the Anglosphere to emphasise the relations of the Dutch and the English during the heyday of the European overseas empires, while leaving the Portuguese as a mere footnote. A new breed of merchant-soldiers, the Dutch, were soon in operation in Southeast Asia and by the mid-17th century were giving the Portuguese a run for their money. This was not helped by the fact that the Portuguese, being fervent Catholics, often mistreated the locals of the new lands they found: Chinese sources describe the Portuguese as "pirates" and "cannibals" who would raid the Chinese coast for slaves, while Malay sources such as the Hikayat Hang Tuah often described the Portuguese or feringgi as "violent and arrogant" people who deserved death at the point of a brave Malay's keris. Clearly, the Portuguese did not endear themselves to the peoples they colonised, and this resulted in the fall of their overseas colonies to other European powers after the 16th century onward. References *Farish Noor *Wells HG *ODA Spain Guide *Greene's 49 laws *http://kiat.net/malaysia/history.html Category:Factions Category:Spoiler